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Peter Yarrow
Peter Yarrow is a Jewish American folk singer and songwriter best known for being one third of the folk trio Peter, Paul & Mary, but he also pursued a brief solo career in the '70s which produced four albums. He notably wrote Peter, Paul, and Mary's hit Puff, The Magic Dragon, and some notable songs from his solo career include "Don't Ever Take Away My Freedom" and "Weave Me the Sunshine". In addition to music, Peter Yarrow has also been a long-time social and political activist, oftentimes incorporating this into his music. For his activism he won the Allard K. Lowenstein Award in 1982 and the Tikkun Olam Award from the Miami Jewish Federation in 1995. History Peter Yarrow was born in Manhattan, the son of Ukrainian Jewish immigrants Vera Burtakoff and Bernard Yarrow. His father, an attorney, and mother, who taught at the Julia Richman High School divorced when he was five and both subsequently remarried. He learned to play guitar as a kid, and attended New York City's High School of Music and Art before enrolling at Cornell University, where he participated in Professor Harold Thompson's American Folk Literature course at Cornell. He graduated in 1959 with a bachelor's degree in psychology. He met Paul Stookey and Mary Travers in 1961, thanks to entrepreneurial music manager Albert Grossman, whom he in turn met at the Newport Folk Festival, and the three began singing together and developing what would become a lifelong friendship. They released their eponymous début album in 1962, followed by the album Moving in 1963, which featured the Yarrow-written hit "Puff, The Magic Dragon". In the Wind was released later in 1963. They followed these up with six more albums in the '60s, before breaking up to pursue solo careers in 1970. (See Peter, Paul & Mary.) Peter Yarrow released his mononymous eponymous solo début, Peter in 1972, followed by That's Enough for Me in 1973 and two more albums in 1975. Peter Yarrow continued to tour in the latter half of the '70s, and in a 1978 spring concert to protest against nuclear energy he was once again joined by Paul Stookey and Mary Travers. The three eventually reunited, touring together that summer and releasing the Reunion album in the autumn. The trio continued performing and recording together until Mary Travers' unfortunate death in 2009. Today, Peter and Paul still perform as a duo. Personal Life In addition to music, Peter Yarrow has maintained an almost constant role in activism, and in 2000 he created the nonprofit organization Operation Respect to help children in schools. He married Mary Beth McCarthy in 1969, the niece of democratic senator and presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy, whom he campaigned for in 1968. The Paul Stookey-written "Wedding Song (There Is Love)" was written for their wedding. Peter and Mary Beth have two children, Bethany Yarrow and Christopher Yarrow. Peter has played with his daughter on occasion, along with cellist Rufus Cappadocia as the trio Peter, Bethany, and Rufus. His son owns an antique shop in Oregon. He played the role of Ira Mandelstam in the 2015 film While We're Young, and in the first of three TV specials produced by Yarrow in the late '70s and early '80s based on "Puff, the Magic Dragon", he played Jackie Paper's father. Discography * Peter (1972) * That's Enough for Me (1973) * Love Songs (1975) * Hard Times (1975) Songs A''' *[[Another Chain Unbound|'''Another Chain Unbound]] B''' * [[Beautiful City (Peter Yarrow Song)|'''Beautiful City]] * [[Blue Sky Promise|'Blue Sky Promise']] * [[Break the Polished Glass|'Break the Polished Glass']] * [[Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?|'Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?']] C''' * [[Carry Me (Peter Yarrow Song)|'''Carry Me]] D''' * [[Don't Ever Take Away My Freedom|'''Don't Ever Take Away My Freedom]] F''' * [[Follow Me (John Denver)|'''Follow Me]] G''' * [[Goodbye Josh|'''Goodbye Josh]] * [[Greenwood (Peter Yarrow Song)|'Greenwood']] * [[Groundhog (Peter Yarrow Song)|'Groundhog']] H''' * [[How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?|'''How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?]] I''' * [[I Cannot Love You (Peter Yarrow Song)|'''I Cannot Love You]] * [[I Need Someone to Love (Peter Yarrow)|'I Need Someone to Love']] * [[Isn't That So (Peter Yarrow)|'Isn't That So']] J''' * [[Just One Pass|'''Just One Pass]] L''' * [[Love Among People|'''Love Among People]] * [[Love Has No Pride|'Love Has No Pride']] * [[Love's Way (Peter Yarrow Song)|'Love's Way']] M''' * [[Mary Beth (Peter Yarrow Song)|'''Mary Beth]] * [[Ms. Rheingold|'Ms. Rheingold']] N''' * [[No One Else Will Do (Peter Yarrow Song)|'''No One Else Will Do]] O''' * [[O, Happy Day|'''O, Happy Day]] * [[Old Father Time|'Old Father Time']] P''' * [[Plato's Song|'''Plato's Song]] R''' * [[River of Jordan (Peter Yarrow Song)|'''River of Jordan]] S''' * [[Side Road (Peter Yarrow)|'''Side Road]] * [[Sitting in Limbo|'Sitting in Limbo']] * [[Such is Love (Song)|'Such is Love']] T''' * [[Take Off Your Mask (Peter Yarrow Song)|'''Take Off Your Mask]] * [[Tall Pine Trees|'Tall Pine Trees']] * [[That's Enough For Me (Peter Yarrow Song)|'That's Enough For Me']] * [[The Harder They Come (Peter Yarrow Song)|'The Harder They Come']] * [[Times Are Gettin' Hard (Peter Yarrow)|'Times Are Gettin' Hard']] W''' * [[Wanderin' (Folk Song)|'''Wanderin']] * [[Wayfaring Stranger|'Wayfaring Stranger']] * [[Weave Me the Sunshine|'Weave Me the Sunshine']] * [[Whispered Words (Peter Yarrow Song)|'Whispered Words']] * [[Wings of Time|'Wings of Time']] * [[Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues|'Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues']] * [[Wrong Rainbow|'Wrong Rainbow']] Related Artists * Paul Stookey * Mary Travers * Peter, Paul & Mary * James Taylor * Paul Simon Category:Folk Singers Category:Folk Songwriters Category:Folk Artists Category:Singers Category:Singer-Songwriters